"At the end of the day, none of that should ever happen," Mears said. "But in the heat of the moment, when you get out of your race car, and some stuff just happened that you didn't like, we started going at each other, and before we knew it, it escalated very quickly."

Ambrose has yet to comment on the matter, but Richard Petty Motorsports said in a statement Tuesday evening that Ambrose will not appeal the fine and "accepts the penalties levied by NASCAR after his actions at Richmond International Raceway."